Playroom Focal Wall

Nothing says a cute kids room like some fun animal art. With all of the shades of pink and blush in here, I thought a flamingo would be perfect! I think flamingos have such a girly vibe and I knew that would bring a creative, playful punch into this room. I first looked at drawings and paintings, but all felt a little too playful for this mixed space. When I came across the flamingo photographs from Photos.com, I knew it was a perfect fit. They’re the best of both worlds: fun, cute animal for Rosie, but a more grown up photo for my office. The site has 18 pages of flamingo photos alone, so it took me forever to pick out the right one. I ended up going with one based off of the mix of colors that fit best with the room and one that looked like a flamingo (find the one I chose here). There are some amazing artsy ones I loved. But I realized that for a kids’ room, I wanted the animal to really look clearly like the animal. This was the right choice in the end!

I loved the print, but knew big, blank wall needed to be more of a focal wall.

While the picture is awesome, I knew it would be even more amazing layered on top of a fabulous print. I immediately pictured a floral wallpaper, but I soon realized the vaulted ceiling and door cut-outs would make hanging wallpaper here extra tricky. Plus, I couldn’t really find a paper that fit what I was picturing once the room started coming together.

I wanted a playful, hand-drawn floral and realized I might be able to draw one. Some of y’all may remember my hand-drawn kilim wall from a few years back.

Drawing flowers was really different, but that one gave me a little confidence to try it. I started sketching out leaves and flowers. Once I had a basic design I liked, I started working on the repeat. I drew out the pattern on white paper first and then moved onto the wall once I knew it was right. Like I said, I really wanted imperfect and hand-drawn, so I wasn’t trying to get each one to look the same: same dimensions, etc. You can see below that the basic design is really simple and imperfect.

I sketched it lightly with pencil first and this was my biggest learning curve. I should’ve sketched so much more lightly! With the lighter paint colors, you can see pencil lines in places, but only up close. If you look above, you can see the isolated pattern and repeat. I just drew one and then worked out from there until the wall was covered.

Then it was time to paint. Painting was actually the easy part to me because I was just tracing over the pencil lines. Plus, you can sort of tweak and fix the pattern as you’re painting. I looked to the flamingo picture for color inspiration. HINT: Use an angled brush that is the thickness of the lines you want. For example, I used a thicker brush for the leaves than I did for the flowers, dots, and details. That way, it’s really easy to just trace over the pencil lines with the thickness of the brush.

I wanted several shades of blue and pink for the flowers and I pictured a dark navy/green for the leaves. The color I picked out looked very blue/green on the chip, but once I started putting it on the wall, it was a truer hunter green. I actually like it though, because it really ties in with the rest of the house.

Here are the paint colors I used:

Leaves: Behr Thermal

Pale Blue: Behr Beach Foam

Shade Darker Blue: Behr Spring Storm

Blush: Behr Island Hopping

Medium peach: Behr Prairie Rose

Darker Peach: Behr Passion Fruit Punch

To achieve that hand-drawn look, I really didn’t want the paint to totally cover in places. You can see that in the leaves, especially. This saves so much time because you aren’t doing several coats and I think imperfections come off looking more intentional this way.

I painted this in layers. First, I painted all the leaves on the wall because that really defined the framework. Then, I filled in the base of flowers. I painted the round blush flower base and then the blue base on the right – y’all these are just circles that I quickly painted using a foam brush and then the detail strokes on top make them look more like flowers. It really was easy! Then, I painted the blue tulip outline. Once those dried, I came back with the accent colors on top. It’s a real time saver to do it this way: For example, paint every blue tulip outline on the whole wall. Then, paint all of the peach dots on the whole wall instead of trying to complete each individual bouquet and then moving on.

I knew painting this was a risk. I’ve never painted flowers. There was this moment in the middle of this where I thought it wasn’t going to look right and I’d have to paint over it.

But in the end, it really turned out to be the focal point I was hoping for. And hanging the flamingo print was the cherry on top.

I love how the colors mix together and the photo really pops off the wall. I went with the photo printed on acrylic instead of a frame and I love that option! I like the frameless look so that the picture is right up against the painted wall and I think the acrylic gives it a modern pop.

This is one colorful room, but I love how it all mixes together!

And our flamingo friend here is the star of the show.

A huge thanks to Photos.com for introducing me to this amazing flamingo print and for playing such a big role in our office/playroom reveal! If you missed the whole reveal, make sure you check it out here.

And the reveal kicked off an amazing week of BSHT Work & Play! You can catch up on all of the talented bloggers’ spaces that have shared so far here:

I’ll second and third that! The wall is nothing short of amazing!! And I love how the choice of the flamingo photo brings it all together. Can I just say that those lamps just look so perfect with the photo? Like they are flamingoes (“e” or no “e”?) resting, all curled up. A beautiful, beautiful room.